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Selections include: The Koran Interpreted, a translation by A.J. Arberry, first published 1955; The Qur'an, translated by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, published 2004; or side-by-side comparison view

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Rightly Guided Caliphs

For Sunnis, the first four successors of
Muhammad
:
Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq
,
Umar
ibn al-Khattab
,
Uthman
ibn Affan
, and
Ali
ibn Abi Talib
. All were prominent Companions of Muhammad and belonged to the tribe of
Quraysh. The period of their rule is considered a golden age, when the caliphs
were consciously guided by Muhammad's practices. The period saw the
establishment of Arab Muslim rule over the heartlands of the Middle East and
preparation for conquests and expansion carried out under subsequent dynasties.
Umar is portrayed as the dominant personality among the caliphs, establishing
many of the fundamental institutions of the classical Islamic state. Uthman is
generally held responsible for the canonization of the Quran as it
is known today. He is described as personally pious but lacking the character
needed to withstand unscrupulous relatives. Uthman's murder by
malcontents opened a period of fitnah (disorder, civil war), which brought about
the disintegration of the previously united community, the takeover of the
caliphate by the Umayyad family, and the end of the era of
Arabia-centered Islam.